bugs

ahkó'enenéhe   na. tumblebug. Category: bugs.

-ane'hová   vai. sting. É-ane'hōva. He (for example, mosquito) stung. See: -ane'kȯhová ‘peck’. Category: bugs.

ane'hovahtȯtse   ni. stinger. Category: bugs.

-axéestaemá   vai. scratch nits. É-axéestaēma. He is scratching (his) nits. Category: bugs.

éxȧho'hóváhe   na. cicada. Lit: ripener this name that they are called refers to their role (cross-pollinating) in helping plants mature. Plural éxȧho'hóvȧheo'o; Obviative éxȧho'hóvȧheho. Category: bugs.

háestȯheóhtáhe   na. centipede. Morph: /háehtoheóhtáhé/. Lit: many legged one Plural háestȯheóhtȧheo'o; Obviative háestȯheóhtȧheho; BodyPartMedial -óhtá₄. Category: bugs.

háhkota   na. 1 • grasshopper. Plural háhkotaho; Obviative háhkotaho. Category: bugs.

2 • Grasshopper. Category: names.

háhnoma   na. bee. Plural háhnomaho; Obviative háhnomaho. See: tȧhpe'ȧséhahnoma ‘bumblebee’; heóvėháhnoma ‘yellow wasp’. Category: bugs.

háhnomȧhéome   ni. beehive. Lit: bee-lodge Category: bugs.

háméško₂   na. beetle, stinkbug, rain bug. Morph: /hámehkón/. Variant: hámėškona; Plural hámėškono; AlternatePlural hámėškonaho; Obviative hámėškono. A number of years ago a non-Indian school teacher at Busby School took her children outside for a little field trip. They spotted an insect so the teacher asked the children what it was. One Cheyenne boy answered, "It is a spoon." The teacher told him he was wrong. But, actually, he was experiencing interference from his mother tongue, Cheyenne, in which the words for 'spoon' and 'beetle' are pronounced exactly the same. This story has been told by a Cheyenne elder to emphasize the point that it is important for teachers to understand the languages that their students deal with. Most non-Indian teachers on the Cheyenne reservation have not learned the Cheyenne language. Etym: *e·mehkwa·na 'spoon'. Homonym háméško₁ ‘spoon’. Category: bugs.

hámėškona   na. beetle. Usage: The pronunciation háméško is more widely used. Variant: háméško; Plural hámėškónaho; Obviative hámėškónaho. Category: bugs.

hátseške   na. 1 • ant. Variant: hátšeške; Simplified Spelling hajesk. This is one of many words in Cheyenne which begin with the letter /h/ but which were vowel-initial in Proto-Algonquian. It is interesting to note that h-initialization in Cheyenne was in-process barely more than 100 years ago. Hayden (1862) and Petter (1915) cite some Ch. words (which have vowel-initial PA etyma) as having initial /h/ and some without. Hayden and Petter seem to have been careful enough in their transcriptions that we can assume that omission of an initial /h/ would not be accidental. All speakers whom W. Leman has worked with since 1971 now have complete h-initialization. Note the following from Hayden (1862), which all occur with initial /h/in the present corpus (Hayden's forms are retranscribed to the current orthography, for easier comparison): o'óhomo'eo'o 'Dakotas', otóhkėsono 'Little Stars, Ogallalas', oóxe'eo'hé'e 'Lodgepole Creek', otoa'e 'male buffalo', etohko 'dish', o'enóse 'tallweed', e'ama 'above'. Cf. Hayden's transcription of initial /h/ in hóma'e 'beaver', hótame 'dog', hoestȯtse 'dress', he'ohko 'pipe', ho'ēsta 'fire', ná-hesóva 'I hiccupped', hóoma 'mosquito', háhnoma 'bee' (H. glosses as 'horse-fly'), he'e 'liver', hē'e 'woman'. Similarly, note that Petter omitted initial /h/ in 'dog' and 'ant'. Category: check. Plural hátšėškeho; Obviative hátšėškeho. Category: bugs.

2 • Ant. Category: names.

-hátšėškéheve   vai. be an ant. É-hátšėškéheve. He is an ant. Category: bugs.

he'éhe   na. maggot(s). sg., pl., and obv. AlternatePlural he'éheo'o; Diminutive he'éhéso. Etym: *wexkwe·wa; *o·xkwe·wa (P) ‘maggot’. See: he'e'he; he'éhesono. Category: bugs.

he'éhéso   na. maggot. Plural he'éhesono. The plural is also the word for 'rice'. Non-diminutive he'éhe. See: he'éhesono ‘rice’; he'e'he ‘unmarried woman’. Category: bugs.

henenó'se   na. Gram: pl nits. They become lice. Possessive -htsenenó'same. See: heóvȧséhe ‘yellow body nit’. Category: bugs.

heóvȧséhe   na. yellow body nit. Lit: yellow-bellied-one Plural heóvȧsėheo'o; Obviative heóvȧséheho. See: henenó'se ‘nits’. Category: bugs.

heóvėháhnoma   na. yellow wasp, wasp. See: háhnoma ‘bee’. Category: bugs.

heóvėhátseške   na. yellow ant. Category: bugs.

heóvemé'šeméhne   na. yellow caterpillar. Category: bugs.

heóvo'kemé'šeméhne   na. little yellow caterpillar. Category: bugs.

hése   na. fly (insect). (another recording) Simplified Spelling hiss. Plural héseo'o, (another recording); Obviative heso. Etym: *we·cye·wa. Category: bugs.

-he-staeme   vai. have lice, have head lice, have bugs. É-hestaeme. He has lice. Éma'xė-hestaeme. He has lots of lice. Né-hestaemehe? Do you have lice? Nésáa-hestaemėhehe? Don't you have lice? Násáa-hestaeméhe. I don't have lice. Náéšė-hestaeme. I already have head lice. Possessive -htaeme. See: he- ‘have’. Etym: *wetehkomiwa. Category: hair, bugs.

hestaemo   na. Gram: poss his lice. Stem -htaeme. Category: bugs.

hestseméenéhatseške   na. winged ant. See: hátseške. Category: bugs.

-he-stsenenó'same   vai. 1 • have nits. Éhe-stsenenó'same. He has nits. Possessive htsenenó'same.

2 • be evil (like the devil), be crazy. Ques: recheck if this is an idiom?? Category: figurative, bugs.

hestsenenó'samo   na. his nits. See: htsenenó'same. Category: bugs.

héško'sema   na. cricket. Plural héško'semaho; Obviative héško'semaho. Category: bugs.

hevávȧhkema   na. butterfly, moth. Plural hevávȧhkemaho; Obviative hevávȧhkemaho. Category: bugs.

hevovetāso   na. 1 • whirlwind, whirlwind spirit, dust devil, dragonfly, tornado. Some people also use this word for a tornado; others use ma'xėhevovetāso for a tornado. Usage: This is the most common pronunciation. Others are: Variant: hevovotāso, hovovetāso; Plural hevovetȧsono; Obviative hevovetȧsono. The whirlwind (or tornado) has been considered one of the sacred powers. People are told to stay away from dust devils; they may snatch your spirit. Dust devils are also called méstaeo'o. Hevovetāso éameohe. A tornado is going along. See: ma'xėhevovetāso; mahpe hevovetāso. Category: bugs, weather.

2 • Little Whirlwind. Category: names.

hexóva'e   na. bedbug, flea. Plural hexová'e; Obviative hexová'e; Oklahoma Dialect kȧhkónȯséhe. Phon: iah See: ka'a'xéhe. Category: bugs, Montana.

ho'éméhne   na. earthworm. Usage: probably a loan trans. Category: bugs, animals.

hóoma₂   na. mosquito. The preferred Cheyenne spelling is hóoma, although hóema is historically expected. Phon: iah Plural hoomaho, (another recording); Obviative hoomaho, (another recording); Homonym hóoma₁ ‘blanket’. See: hóoma. Etym: *sakime·wa (Go74:107). Category: bugs.

-htáeme   na. Gram: poss louse. Usage: rare as singular Ques: recheck iah in singular nȧ-htáeme my louse. nȧ-htaemo my lice. he-staemo his louse/lice. vai: -he-staeme ‘have lice’. Etym: *netehkwema 'my louse'. Category: bugs, check.

kȧhkónȯséhe   na. bedbug. Usage: od Plural kȧhkónȯséheo'o. See: hexóva'e. Category: bugs.

ka'a'xéhe   na. flea. Lit: jumper Plural ka'a'xéheo'o; AlternatePlural ka'a'xéheono; Obviative ka'a'xéheho. Category: bugs.

-kónȯsané   vai. make popping sound with mouth, pop nits with teeth, pop gum. É-kónȯsáne. She is popping nits with her teeth. This refers to any popping sound made with the mouth, but especially refers to the popping sound made when people find nits in the hair of others and pop the nits with their mouths. Can also refer to others popping sounds made with the mouth such as when popping gum. Kónȯsánėstse! Pop your gum! Category: bugs.

mȧ-htáeme   louse. Plural mȧ-htaemo; Obviative mȧ-htaemo. Phon: iah Etym: *metehkoma (Pi). See: -htáeme. Category: bugs.

ma'ėhátseške   na. red ant. Category: bugs.

ma'emé'šeméhne   na. red caterpillar. Category: bugs.

ma'xėháhnoma   na. bumblebee. Lit: big-bee Plural ma'xėháhnomaho. See: háhnoma; tsétȧhpe'ȧsese háhnomaho. Category: bugs.

ma'xemo'ȯhtáevé'ho'e   tarantula. Lit: big-black-spider Plural móma'xemo'ȯhtáevé'hó'e; Obviative ma'xemo'ȯhtáevé'hó'e. pl. is lit. big (redup.)-black-spiders. Category: bugs.

mééhe   na. bug, insect. Ques: is this a word?? See: méškéso; mémééhe. Category: bugs, baby talk.

mé'šeméhne   na. caterpillar. Lit: fuzzy-worm(serpent) not classified with snakes in Cheyenne folk taxonomy. Plural mé'šeméhneo'o; Obviative mé'šemehno. See: méhne. Category: bugs.

meše   na. tick, wood tick. Plural méšéne; Obviative méšéne. The plural is sometimes deliberately confounded with mé'šéne for ribald, humorous effect. Etym: cf. Ar bíísee 'bug'. See: méškéso; mé'šéne. Category: bugs.

méškéso   na. bug, insect. possibly dim. of meše. Plural méškėseho ‘micro-organisms’. Ques: recheck that gloss and if it belongs here?? AlternatePlural méškėsono, méškėsoneho; Obviative méškėsono. Category: bugs, check.

mȯhenėšēmo₂   na. ladybug. Plural mȯhenėšemono; Obviative mȯhenėšemono; Homonym mȯhenėšēmo₁ ‘playing card’. Category: bugs.

mo'éhno'haméhése   na. horsefly. Usage: loan translation from English Variant: po'ėháhnoma. The original Cheyenne term is probably po'ėháhnoma. Plural mo'éhno'haméheseo'o; Obviative mo'éhno'haméheso. See: mo'éhno'haméhéso ‘horsey (this is almost identical phonetically)’. Category: bugs.

mo'ȯhtáemé'šeméhne   na. black caterpillar, furry worm. Variant: mo'kȯhtáemé'šeméhne. Category: bugs.

mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'á'e₂   na. black widow spider. Category: bugs. Usage: loan transl. There is some question as to the appropriateness of this Ch. term; the 'widow' part of the English term may cause some people to form the Cheyenne term this way which seems to limit the spider to being only a female; a more appropriate term may be mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'e. Plural mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'á'eo'o; Obviative mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'a'o; Homonym mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'á'e₁ ‘black woman’.

mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'e₂   na. black spider. Plural mo'ȯhtáevé'hó'e; Obviative mo'ȯhtáevé'hó'e. Category: bugs.

mo'ȯhtávėháhnoma   na. black bluish wasp. Category: bugs.

móma'xėháhkotaho   na. Gram: pl big grasshoppers. Category: bugs.

néstomónéhe   na. praying mantis. Lit: heard-one Usage: od Plural néstomónėheo'o. Category: bugs.

-nȯhtséemó'h   vta. look for lice on s.o. É-nȯhtséemo'ho. He looked for bugs on him. (another recording) É-nȯhtséemó'hóho. He looked for bugs on him. (newer pronunciation). Nȯhtséemo'hėstse! Look for bugs in your hair! Néh-nȯhtséemo'xėstse! Look for bugs in my hair! Category: bugs.

-nȯhtse'ėstaemán   vta. feel around for lice of s.o. Ná-nȯhtse'ėstaemánahtse. I'm feeling around for my lice. Category: bugs.

onéhpenėhováhe   na. gnat. Lit: eye obstructer Plural onéhpenėhováheo'o; Obviative onéhpenėhováheho; Diminutive onéhpenėhováso. Category: bugs.

onéhpenėhováso   na. Gram: dim small gnats. Plural onéhpenėhovásoneho; Obviative onéhpenėhovásoneho. Category: bugs.

-péeoestoh(n)   vta. swat s.o. squashed. É-péeoestȯhnóho. He swatted him so he was squashed. for example, to squash a bug. Category: bugs.

-péeoha'ov   vta. squash s.o. by stepping. É-péeoha'ovóho. He stepped on him. For example, he stepped on a bug and squashed it. Final -a'ov. Category: bugs.

po'ėháhnoma   na. horsefly. Lit: gray-bee Plural pó'ėháhnomaho; Obviative pó'ėháhnomaho. See: háhnoma; mo'éhno'haméhése. Category: bugs.

séotsévȯhtaemo   na. white lice, white bugs. Ques: recheck vȯht or vȧht?? Category: bugs.

staeme   ni. lice. Category: bugs.

tȧhpe'ȧséhahnoma   bumblebee. Lit: big bellied-bee Plural tȧhpe'ȧsé-hahnomaho; Obviative tȧhpe'ȧsé-hahnomaho. Category: bugs.

tó'ėseóhtáhe   na. daddy longlegs. Lit: long-legged-one Plural tó'ėseóhtȧheo'o. Category: bugs.

tó'ėseóhtavé'ho'e   na. daddy-longlegs (spider). Lit: long-leg-spider Variant: háestȯheóhtáhe; Plural tó'ėseóhtávé'hó'e; Obviative tó'ėseóhtávé'hó'e. Category: bugs.

-tsėhetóneanené   vai. make a fence this way, fence this way - make a, web this way - make a. Vé'ho'e é-tsėhetóneanēne. The spider is making a web this way. See: -amóneanené. Category: bugs.

tsétȧhpe'ȧsese háhnomaho   vai. bumblebees. Lit: those.which.are-big-bellied bees Obviative tsétȧhpe'ȧsétsese háhnomaho; vai: -tȧhpe'asé. See: ma'xėháhnoma. Category: bugs.

vé'ho'e₂   na. spider. mo'ȯhtáevé'ho'e black spider. tó'ėseóhtavé'ho'e daddy-longlegs. Plural vé'hó'e; Obviative vé'hó'e; Homonym vé'ho'e₁ ‘whiteman’. For discussion about the word for 'spider' sounding the same as the word for 'spider,' see discussion under the entry for vé'ho'e 'whiteman'. Category: bugs.

vóhkėhevá'séhe   na. scorpion. Category: bugs. Lit: bent-tail-one Plural vóhkėhevá'sėheo'o; Obviative vóhkėhevá'sėheho; Medial -hevá'sé.

vó'ho'kȧsénoma'ne   na. firefly. Lit: lighted-fish Plural vó'ho'kȧsénoma'ne; Obviative vó'ho'kȧsénoma'ne. Category: bugs.